Maia Kobabe is a nonbinary, queer author and illustrator from the Bay Area, California. Eir first full length book, GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR, was published in May 2019. Maia's short comics have been published by The Nib and in many anthologies including THE SECRET LOVES OF GEEKS, FASTER THAN LIGHT Y'ALL, GOTHIC TALES OF HAUNTED LOVE, SHOUT OUT, ADVANCED DEATH SAVES and BE GAY, DO COMICS. Before setting out to work freelance full-time, e worked for over ten years in libraries. Eir work is heavily influenced by fairy tales, homesickness, and the search for identity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY -- This heartfelt graphic memoir relates, with
sometimes painful honesty, the experience of growing up
non-gender-conforming. From a very young age, Kobabe is unsure
whether to claim a lesbian/gay, bisexual, or even transgender
identity: “I don't want to be a girl. I don't want to be a boy
either. I just want to be myself.” Kobabe comes of age having to
navigate expressions of identity such as clothing and haircuts,
with fraught attempts at romantic and sexual entanglements.
Eventually, Kobabe's supportive sister concludes: “I think you're a
genderless person.” (Kobabe: “She knew before I did.”)
SHELF-AWARENESS -- Artist Maia Kobabe is genderqueer and uses
pronouns e, em and eir. In the gorgeous and candid graphic memoir
Gender Queer, e illustrates an aching journey toward reconciliation
with being nonbinary and asexual.
Kobabe grew up in a progressive home, with parents who didn't
enforce gender roles, but such things are socialized early in
places like school and neighborhoods. The dysphoria e experienced
became more acute with age; e frequently felt out of step with eir
peers. There were awkward Tinder dates and excruciating Pap smears.
All the while, Maia searched for an explanation, a language to
assign to this internal trauma and confusion.
Midway through the book lies a two-page spread of weighted scales.
Each side of holds a gender assigned at birth, as a frantic Maia
piles pronouns, clothes, hair style, hormones, etc., on the other.
"The end goal wasn't masculinity," e writes, "the goal was
balance." Had e been assigned male at birth, e would be playing
with makeup and nail polish every day.
Kobabe's drawings, colored by sister Phoebe Kobabe, casts eir life
and truths in splendorous, vivid light. And the relationship
between the siblings on the page is one of Gender Queer's sweetest
elements. Often scared of what lies ahead, Maia confides in Phoebe,
a lesbian, about eir queer hopes and fears, and is met each time
with the gracious enthusiasm of a sister who has eir back: "I
lucked out so hard in the sibling lottery." A challenging yet
heartwarming memoir, Gender Queer succeeds on all fronts. --Dave
Wheeler , associate editor, Shelf Awareness
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (STARRED) -- Gr 9 Up-Kobabe, who uses the
pronouns e, em, and eir, was assigned female at birth but never
felt that this designation fit. As e grew up, e learned about the
spectrum of gender designations and settled on nonbinary as the
best descriptor. E came out to eir family as nonbinary and asexual
and found that eir family supported em however e identified. In
this memoir, Kobabe chronicles eir life from the time e was very
young through eir coming of age and adulthood. E describes common
situations from the perspective of someone who is asexual and
nonbinary: starting a new school, getting eir period, dating,
attending college. The muted earth tones and calm blues match the
hopeful tone and measured pacing. Matter-of-fact descriptions of
gynecological exams and the use of sex toys will be enlightening
for those who may not have access to this information elsewhere.
VERDICT A book to be savored rather than devoured, this memoir will
resonate with teens, especially fans of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home
and Mason Deaver's I Wish You All the Best. It's also a great
resource for those who identify as nonbinary or asexual as well as
for those who know someone who identifies that way and wish to
better understand.-Jenni Frencham, Indiana University,
Bloomington
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